Chapter 73. Home
After parting ways with the assassins Rodolphus had hired, Severus returned home. Then, taking Nagini with him, he went to their new house. The roof was already finished, and only the windows remained. They would arrive tomorrow, and then the construction would finally be complete.
He had come for one purpose: to check that everything was in order. During the week he had learned to trust the goblins' skill, but their greed was hard to ignore. Yet no matter how thoroughly he searched, he found no flaws that deviated from the blueprint. Everything was done as if measured by a ruler, which pleasantly surprised him. The goblins themselves were even a little offended by his distrust, but after Severus waived five penalties, their spirits lifted so much that they forgot their annoyance.
The house itself did not look particularly special, though it had a slightly provocative appearance for a magical world stuck in the eighteenth-century. Still, Muggles probably would not be surprised.
It was small, only three floors and a basement, but easy on the eyes, especially in winter. The walls were painted in light colors, particularly at the center. One could say the house was built with a perfectionist's attention to detail. It was divided into three sections: the central part with three floors, a small two-story wing on the left, and another two-story wing on the right adjoining the main structure, all of them were clean rectangular shapes.
Severus had first seen this style in a Muggle magazine that had caught his eye by chance. Huge old mansions stirred unpleasant feelings in him, something bordering on melancholy, so he had chosen a style that looked more modern and bright. Nagini liked it too. Having grown up in the Muggle world, she preferred this look to the manor houses of old aristocrats.
After saying goodbye to the goblins, who looked very pleased, they returned home. After dinner, Nagini went to sleep, and Severus sat by the window, continuing his work on the glasses. He cast silence charms around himself so as not to wake her.
As he studied the lens, he sensed familiar magic speeding toward him, but he ignored it and kept working, even when it slipped into the room.
Exactly ten minutes later, he fitted the lens into a plain frame and put on his creation. Then he looked at the shadow and couldn't suppress a satisfied smile, because he could clearly see the silhouette of a man within it, as well as magic streaming from the shadow like flames.
"Not bad. Almost ready." He set the glasses on the table and turned to the shadow, extending his palm. A few seconds later, a crystal materialized in his hand. He channeled a small amount of magic into it, and an image projected above it: a naked man tied upside down to a branch, being used as a punching bag while his attacker showed almost no restraint. The recording jumped forward two hours. They had taken him down and transported him to Diagon Alley, where they left him, having cast warming charms to keep him from freezing to death. "Not bad. I am satisfied." Severus smiled at the shadow and slipped the crystal into his wallet.
"Thank you for leaving my team alive," a calm male voice said in the room.
"You are welcome. If that is all, you can go."
The shadow remained silent for a few moments until he finally decided to ask:
"Excuse me, could you tell me what kind of artifact recorded all this, and is it possible to buy several dozen such crystals?"
"They are not ready," Severus answered indifferently, turning his back and examining the glasses again. "There's no sound recording, the recording time is limited to two hours, and there's also a chance they won't capture anything at all."
"I see."
"But when they're ready, I'll sell them to you first in exchange for your services."
A completely ordinary sheet of paper appeared on the desk by the window.
"As soon as you tear it, we'll know and head straight to you."
"Good. You're free to go, and from now on you'd better gather information about your target. I don't want you to fail to come when I tear this sheet." Without touching the paper, Severus continued working on the artifact. Behind him he felt a flicker of displeasure. One of the best assassin teams was being lectured by some schoolboy. Still, Severus was completely right. Only because of their lack of information had they gotten into this mess and nearly lost their lives.
"Yes. Until we meet, Mr. Prince," the shadow said, and disappeared, apparating back to the rest of the group far from Diagon Alley.
A smile appeared on Severus's face.
"How cautious." Then he glanced at Nagini, who was pretending to be asleep, though she'd woken up the moment she felt someone sneak into the room.
Finally getting up from the chair, Severus went to the bed and lay down beside her.
"Go to sleep. Nothing serious happened." Nagini snorted in displeasure, then slithered closer and pressed against him. "I love you too." He gently ran a hand over her smooth scales and closed his eyes. A few minutes later, apart from their even breathing, the room was silent.
By noon, the construction was completed. Honestly, Severus had never seen goblins so happy as when he paid them the promised Galleons, and their praise nearly made his ears burn.
Still, one of the main goblin rules was "Time is money," so they didn't linger. As soon as they'd gathered their things, the workers left the property. Only the chief stayed behind to sign some additional documents, and then he too departed.
Severus couldn't hold back a sad smile as he looked at the building. For some reason, old memories of his family surfaced again. After more than thirty years, he finally had a place he could return to at any time. His home.
"Severus, are you okay?" Nagini asked with concern when she noticed the change in his expression.
"Just remembered something from the past. Don't worry." He smiled warmly at her and looked back at the building. "I just need to work a little more, and everything will be ready. We can move into our own house."
"I can't wait."
Me too. Very well, Tobby, Nelly.
At that moment, two house-elves appeared before him. One wore round glasses and a white robe; the other wore trousers and a shirt. Even with the change in their appearance, their personalities had barely shifted, except for the adoration in their eyes, which had reached new heights and verged on outright worship. Severus wouldn't have been surprised to wake one morning and find them praying to his portrait.
House-elves were strange creatures. Treat them well, and they became the most devoted of beings. Severus liked that, but sometimes they overdid it. No matter how much he tried to discourage it, nothing worked, so he gave up. What mattered was that they were completely loyal to him; the rest no longer concerned him.
Bowing, they lifted their adoring gazes to him.
"Clean up around the house and inside."
"Yes, Master!" the house-elves chorused, and vanished to begin their work.
Severus took out a bucket of red liquid, which Nagini recognized as blood, then another bucket and a large cauldron. He began drawing a magic circle around them. Nagini did not interfere, only watched with interest.
A few minutes later, when he finished, the blood in both buckets flared. It flew out and merged, and images of a snake and a dragon appeared above them, roaring furiously at Severus. The next moment the images dispersed and the mixture sank into the cauldron.
Thoughtfully stroking his chin, he covered the cauldron with a steel plate and looked at the house.
"I think this will be enough." Using wind magic, he lifted it and headed toward the building.
"And what is that?" Nagini asked.
"Dragon and Basilisk blood. It's the most suitable material for the rune system. Only it can withstand the magical flows required for the house to function fully. I'll find something better eventually, but until then, this will have to do. I'll have to renew it every year, but it won't be as hard as the initial application."
Severus opened the door and stepped into the building, its walls bare and rooms empty. Everything was spotless; there was not a speck of dust on the floor.
"Well done."
A brush appeared in his hand, and he dipped it into the blood.
"Time to work."
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